BLUF: This is a pastiche of two letters I dredged from my email archive, both dealing with race, plus I am reacting to the passing of Bill Withers “use me” “sunshine”
We pledge allegiance all our life to red blue and white…this world was made for all men…1976
P.S Here is a partial list of some of the 300 artists and groups I brought to Cubberley for public performance, 1994-2001 (I will explain this list when we speak):
Bloque: rock group from Bogota, Colombia; Ozomatli: multi-ethnic pop/Latin group from Los Angeles; Pinetop Perkins: 86-year-old black blues artist from Clarksdale, Mississippi; z’l Pansy Division: gay activists/rock group from San Francisco; Kemuri: Asian rock group from Tokyo, Japan; Mudwimin: all-woman rock band from San Francisco, featuring Palo Alto native Mia Levin; Oxbow: black-fronted rock band featuring Palo Altans Dan Adams and Eugene Robinson;
Penelope Houston: female singer-songwriter; leader of pioneering female-fronted rock band The Avengers; Vukani Mawethu: multi-ethnic female-led vocal group singing the music of South Africa, from Oakland (canceled show); Alvin Youngblood Hart: black blues singer from Oakland and Memphis; Bonfire Madigan: female fronted rock group from San Francisco; Danilo Perez: jazz musician, of mixed ethnic heritage, from Panama; the “International Cultural Ambassador” from the nation of Panama i.e his government officially designated him as such. Oliver Lake: black jazz artist from New York; Steve Lacy: MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow, jazz musician, first interpreter of the music of black composer Thelonius Monk (other than Monk); z’l Mingus Amungus: multi-ethnic jazz group from Oakland; features female-led and integrated dance accompaniment group; leading interpreters of black composer Charles Mingus; Kristin Hersh: female singer-songwriter from Massachusetts; co-owner of ticket service virtuous.com; Barbara Manning: female singer-songwriter, band-leader from San Francisco; Femi Kuti: black bandleader in jazz/”afro-pop” from Nigeria; son of a deceased political prisoner in Nigeria, Fela Kuti, musician. Stanley Jordan: black jazz artist from Palo Alto (Gunn graduate) and Sedona, Arizona; Wendy Waller: female jazz singer from Menlo Park, married to a Palo Alto musician Hershel Yatovitz. Orixa: Latin rock band from San Francisco; Ragady Anne, aka The Electrocutes aka The Donnas: all-female rock band from Palo Alto; The Toasters: integrated rock/ska band from New York; featured Jamaican (black)instrumentalist Lester “Ska” Sperling, z’l; Imogen Heap: mixed-ethncity (Asian) singer-songwriter from London; AFI: gay-fronted rock band from Oakland. Austin Willacy: black singer-songwriter from San Francisco; Miriam Sullivan: black female jazz musician from New York (sideperson); (aka Mimi Jones, leader) Allison Miller: female jazz musician from Washington, D.C. (side person); (later, leader) Beth Custer: female jazz/pop instrumentalist, composer, band-leader (of mixed-ethnicity band)from San Francisco; True Margret: female singer-songwriter from San Francisco; Cat Cody: female, mixed-heritage dancer and singer from Los Angeles, with Eperanza De La Tierra “Espi” Lopez, female Latina dancer from Los Angeles; Billie Eyeball: female bandleader from Palo Alto; Allette Brooks: female singer-songwriter from Palo Alto
Marika Hughes who played with Austin Willacy in October, 2000, more recently in Ashland with Stew’s “Family”
; James Hurt: black jazz artist from New York and Memphis; Jacques Swartz-Bart: black jazz musician from New York (sideperson); World For Ransom: female-fronted rock group from Palo Alto; Jenny Scheinman: female jazz instrumentalist and composer from New York (attended PAUSD in 1981); Rachel Z: female jazz musician from New York; (although confusingly her last name stars with an “N’) Van Gogh’s Daughter: all-female rock band from San Francisco; spoke at PAUSD music classes; Seven Day Diary: female-fronted rock band from San Francisco; spoke at PAUSD music classes; Virginia Dare: female-fronted rock band from San Francisco; (Brad and Mary Johnson, a different Brad Johnson) Sweet Virginia: female-fronted rock band from San Francisco featuring Palo Alto instrumentalist Clint Bennett; (named for a Rolling Stones song, and don’t get me started on “rolling” “rocking” “tumbling” ) Laura Kemp: female musician from Oregon; Shelley Doty: black female lesbian rock musician and bandleader from San Francisco; The Toledo Show: black-fronted jazz band from Los Angeles; (Toledo Diamond; Jewish?) Dave Ellis: black jazz artist from Berkeley; (Jewish) Henry Butler: black jazz artist from New Orleans; blind since age 2; spoke at California School For The Blind, Fremont; z’l Venus Opal Reese: black female dancer/mime/monologist from Palo Alto, Baltimore and Dallas, Texas; phd candidate and instructor (at the time), Stanford; phD from Stanford; professor of drama at University Texas-Dallas; (and literally, a canvas and snake-charmer) Cookie: female-fronted rock band from San Jose; Bimbo Toolshed: female-fronted rock band from San Francisco; Ripple: female fronted rock band from San Francisco; B-Side Players: Latin rock band from Los Angeles; Morty and Connie Show: jazz band featuring female vocalist Connie Champagne; (Kelly Johnson?) Broun Fellinis: all-black jazz band from San Francisco; DJ Charlotte the Baroness: female dj from San Francisco; Pele Juju: all-female pop band from Santa Cruz; Tin Hat Trio: female co-led jazz band from Oakland featuring Carla Kihlsteadt; Marika Hughes: black female jazz instrumentalist from Oakland (sideperson); (but leads or co-leads many projects now) Cheryl Wheeler: female singer-songwriter; Dar Williams: female singer-songwriter; Rebecca Riots: all-female rock group from Berkeley; Marginal Prophets: black co-led rock group from San Francisco; (Keith Knight) IBOPA: rock band fronted by gay singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart (pka Xiu-Xiu); Idiot Flesh: Asian co-led rock group from Oakland; (I think i was thinking of the butoh dancer they sometimes worked with…poetic license) Skankin’ Pickle: Asian and female co-led rock group from San Jose; (the most Rev Mike Park) Frightwig: pioneering all-female rock band from San Francisco; featuring Palo Altan Mia Levin; Molly Neumann: female rock band co-leader and co-owner of influential Oakland record label Lookout; currently manages The Donnas, major label all-female rock band from Palo Alto who made their professional debut in Earthwise concert series at Cubberley, as 15-year-old Paly sophomores — their parents signed release forms permitting their appearance; Cindy “Cinder” Block: female rock musician and business owner in Oakland; her female-owned business printed 500 silk screen t-shirts given away at shows saying “The Cubberley Sessions Palo Alto”; Superchunk: female co-led rock band featuring Laura Ballance co-owner of Merge Records of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Stephanie Mechura: female singer-songwriter from San Francisco; Amanda Krugliak: female monologist from San Francisco; John Nelson: black rock instrumentalist (side person) Squirrel Nut Zippers: female co-led rock band from North Carolina; Soul Divine: female led rock band from San Francisco; Umami: all-female rock band from Palo Alto; Sally Ann: female led rock group from San Francisco; David Walker: black rock instrumentalist from Palo Alto (sideperson); Garrett: black rock musician from Redwood City; (I think I meant Garrick Davis) Whichicallit and Dem – black rap group from East Palo Alto; part of a youth services outreach program led by Heru Hall; (who may or may not be both the night time DJ at KCSM “Harry Hall” and the first black quarterback at Cubberley) Urban Ministry of Palo Alto “Garden Project”: tabled at a show; Support Network for Battered Woman: Mountain View; tabled at show; beneficiary of show proceeds; director spoke at event; Woman’s Recovery Center: Belmont; tabled at show; beneficiary of show proceeds; director spoke at event; Palo Alto “Teenline”/suicide prevention: beneficiary of show proceeds; tabled at show; Rape Crisis Center of Palo Alto/Palo Alto YWCA: tabled at show; beneficiary of show proceeds; director spoke at event; director led a woman’s self-defense clinic as part of a benefit concert, at show; East Palo Alto Historical Society: tabled at show; beneficiary of show proceeds; director spoke at event (Trevor Burrows; black-led n.g.o — he’s actually West Indian — which reminds me that I asked the current mayor of Palo Alto East what she meant when she said that she preferred the term “Black History Month” to “African-American History Month” because it was “more inclusive” I’ll post the video); International Society for Ecology and Culture: Berkeley; beneficiary of show proceeds;(female-founded n.g.o. by author Helena Norberg-Hodge); (someone corrected me recently that “NGO” for non-governmental agency is not used for “non profit’ in the US — except in Vietnam) Bimbetta: all female chamber music group from Bloomington, Indiana and Berkeley; spoke at PAUSD music classes; Michelle Nelson: female graphic designer from Santa Cruz (and PAUSD educated)who designed many of the 70 posters created for the concert series, most of which were printed at female-owned or co-owned print shops); z’l Spring Heeled Jack: black co-led rock group from Virginia; Noe Venable: female singer-songwriter; Third Eye Blind: rock band fronted by Palo Alto native Steve Jenkins. (although he stole his best song from a black man — I’m starting to feel very Stevie Wonder here Dan Olmstead: Palo Alto-raised musician and Cubberley High School graduate; (sideperson). Sheila Schat: female rock instrumentalist (side person);
Jessie Green: female rock violinist (side person); Geraldine Fibbers: female fronted rock band featuring vocalist Carla Bozulich, from Los Angeles; Tarnation: female-fronted rock band featuring Paula Frazer and Michelle Cernutto; Carrie Bradley: female rock instrumentalist (side person); Zoe Keating: female rock cellist (side person); (partial list –90)
I’m not sure if I list her here but a great guitarist Sunny Haire of Waycross, Bedlam Rovers Enorchestra and the Upsets was known formerly as Sunshine Haire. I have not spoken to her directly but mutual acquaintances told me that one of the victims who died in the Ghost Ship was her child.
bwbwbw
bw is my mom’s initials; her birthday was last month; bw means “backed with” my code for a second thread somewhat related to the first; bw means bill withers who died this week.
another letter wherein I want to argue for my woke ness — tho I am of the age where I am likely exsqueezed from having to be woke. woke can be a yoke, no joke.
That’s my Mom’s name, by the way. The one who died. For Whom I am mourning. Which is why I took the day off and went to the ball game. Then parked down town. And wandered the brave new old world. And I did in fact greet two or three total strangers between like 3:30 and 4 p.m. ambling up Telegraph (although I thought I was like George Benson and on B_) Barbara. My Mom I mean. I stopped total strangers and said “Isn’t this a beautiful day?” A couple people, or one at least, totally ignored me. Who talks to strangers on the streets? A guy named “Small” who I said “no, you’re a giant” sold me for $5 or $10 a cd of what is supposedly hip hop music or original music by he and his friends. He was wearing a pointed bamboo hat. Yes, I did turn and take his photo from across 17 or 18 or whatever, about 100 feet a way. A bike and a car rolled between us. I snapped or tapped two shots. Not thinking too hard about it. When we met again a block or two later — he was on a bike, had crossed to opposite side of me, I recognized him by the hat and yelled out to him, he waited — he said he noticed that I had taken his picture. I asked if instead he wanted to do a selfie. He said he had moved on. He said I might move on (from concern about the lady in the gallery who 86’d me). I left a voice mail on the number on the website for Ono Gallery saying that my wife had gone to grad school with Rene DeGuzman. Rene who played soccer, I think, for Hayward or Tennyson and then Cal, who once sat in the window of Oaktown Museum as human and performance art. Doing his thing. In front of passersby. (Some of whom may have snapped his photo, who knows). Oakland Museum where I was last there having coffee and a bite maybe with a musician. Local. Not Ambrose Akinmusire but…what’s his name..Dayna Stephens. (Ambrose who has a song called “I am Oscar Grant”…and my review or notice about his work that work is called “I am Oscar Grant” because I am Oscar Grant. And my Mom is or was the mom of the character in Jesus the Pimp rolling in a 1979 Granada, although I have a 4-cylinder Chevy. Although acdtually I was parked yesterday at the Paramount by a guy named Ron, “although the tags aint right” in a Lexus. And I do dream of (waking type) Boots reading his story at my Moms Memorial service, nexgt month or later this month, at a Jewish Synogogue in Silicon Valley, although I told Boots or his publicist that he could wear a Palastinian t-shirt if he likes, with or without the “Oakland, can I hear you, do you want to RISE?” and the baking or backing vocals, the female voices, the angels, with or without now but maybe with, for sure, Purple Pam –not that I knew her as such, but I do now — because its on the internet — Pam the FunkMistress — Pam Warren — his movie was dedicated to her. And I did buy– ifyou excuse the digression — () the dig — ?? — a purple Buddha intended to shrine it at 30th and West or something — it was on the internet — but instead gave it to a total stranger moving into her apartment –as a house warming gift — she was from Shanghai or Hong Kong — Dayna who has very serious health issues, but still plays his ass off. On saxophone. I forget which days he takes or doesn’t take phone calls. A picture of his hand and some sheet music, or justthe heads, is on my website. Plasti cAlto. it’s an ornette reference. Or not. I lelft all this info on your or her voice mail. The woman at the gallery. Who may or may not be the woman in the photo in the frame on the desk. Bettina no Ankya Barber (or Ankhya?). I almost wrote “Berber”. Palo Alto has not Tuareg but one Waddabe-American family. Or one Waddabe-American woman. Her mom’s name is Marie. Her name is …ok I forget. (At a certain age it is not a bonus to remember the names of 13, 14, 17, 18 year olds, even from the neighborhood). Our former mayor here, Yiaway Yeh (people called him”Alex” in high school, my school, Gunn of Plao Alto – but years later — and he was also a City of Oakland mid-level bureaucrat at the time, like an accountant — Yiaway met his wife in Africa, like the peace corps or something. I was offering to get some Congolese or Waddabe music for his wedding. I’m in the music business. There are not that many black people (left) here in Palo Alto. We had a historicly black neighborhood, called Ventura, it’s near Fry’s. Fry’s which is leaving. Fry’s where a developer bought the land, bought the adjacent land — like 20 homes — and then got the city to upzone for density. And they picked a citizen’s advisory committee to oversee what we shall build –we the peolple –or certain people –there’s at least a peep-hole — to Democracy — but they did not pick the one lady who had been there the longest, and still owned her home — and the only black woman — Lakita Pittman* I think is her name — I went looking for her. We talked like an hour. I have her number somewhere. I have all these people’s numbers. I have your number, Mam. Or Ms. I don’t have Yoko’s number but I have a small piece of porcelin she gave me — and 100 others –at Stanford a couple years back. I stood in line and maybe was on her dime — with Aleta Hayes. The dancer and singer and actor and teacher and leader of a group called Chocolate Heads and creator of a dance called “The Gesture Chorus” and I didn’t notice it but she told me that it acdtually had “jewish” too, a gesture of the Jew, the observant Jew — more observant than me –although I see a lot — I read Emerson and hsi “transparent eyeball” I see all or am all — like Whitman, maybe. White men, I admit. The Gesture Chorus had about 14 people, mostly young (college age) woman, mostly of color, plus like this one kid, a boy, of about 12 or 10, doing something like the jews do when they wrap this special strap around their arms — it kinda looks like drug use — not that I would know — or so I’ve heard. In fact I think Venus Opal Reese, who kind of had Aleta’s spot before Aleta did — Venus, who I called “a wordless story teller’ — she’s like a mime — once opened a show I did with Henry Butler the blind piano player. Seh also did a little show in a little gallery — not unlike BettiOno gallery — and now its a real estate office — and the guy who sang before Venus I only booked because he had nice hair, Elvis hair, surfer boy blond hair – his name was Brad — and he’s in heaven too — with Pam, and my Mom, and Lisa Fay Beatty who worked at the Brower Center in Berkeley, and Henry and my grandfather Henry — and my Dad — and Mia Zapata of the Gits, and a copule others — Brad sang with a girl or woman namd Astrid and his band was called Wandering Stars (not Wandering Jews mind you, do you mind? and sorry to bother you) Venus had a piece about hair, black woman’s hair and about how a woman with cenrtain hair, be she from Palo Alto or Paris France or Asmara Africa could all talk together and have a conversation, about their hair. She’s on the internet, too. Anyhow, i left a voice mail to say that I had signed your (or her, or Ankya’s or Ankhya’s) book, with my name Mark Weiss (son of Paul and Barbara Weiss –we are all actually from Chicago, the South Side) and my email –above — earwopa at yahoo — it’s not an AFrican or Hebrew word it’s an acronym or contraction, in the way that Intel is “integrated electronics” earwopa is Earth Wise Of Palo Alto — my concert company– since 1993, a spinoff of Bay Area Action Earth Day — and now my number 650 305 &^(Ankh) (Distaff) because I’m not hiding. There is no hiding place. Which is acdtually Nina Simone I think. Or Billy Taylor. Or the Christian non-Torah. But I was thinking of Maya Angelou, who once said to me, and 300,000 others, “good morning” and then again, in Philly, at the Bar of the Four Seasons, I was with D_ the Dominican trauma surgeon — who sometimes was mean when she wanted to be nice, or have someone else, nearby, maybe too near, be nice back — who knows? we only human. Anyways I did meet Maya Angelou and won’t forget that. Although I do sometimes forget her exact words. And I’m not really namedropping. They are literally dropping in on me. At this MacBook. At this cafe. Like angels or ghosts or presences. Today. So maybe I should forget yesterday or Move On. And you’re website did say “unapologetic” but i am still wondering what’s up with that? I did apologize. It’s called capitulating. Tapping out. Why? (or “radical inclusivity” – her words) anyhow, whoever you are. have a nice day. And sorry — although I’m sort of repeating yourself – -and acdtually one of my theories is that you really don’t like Boots Riley and are projecdting at me some grudge intended towards him. And truthfully I hardly know the guy and maybe don’t get his songs or movie. (But I did buy a magazine to learn more. I showed you. Or them.) Also I know a guy who wrote a song that says black people (the speaker is black, the writer, the singer) get mistaken (by white people, or Chinese) for people they don’t resemble in the least. So good luck with your museum and your gallery and the young female photographer who also plays violin (but not likely like Marika Hughes, or Carla Kihlstedt, but close enough, I’m sure). I was going to inquire about the photo or photos of the crowns (the woman’s hat. not to be a code-switcher, but I think I saw a play with that name or word. It might even be in Passing Strange). How much? In college I read a book or was asked to, maybe by Howard Porter or William Cook (he too, now in heaven) that had a black character refer to a woman’s butt as her “turd-cutter”. I’m wondering why you kicked me out of your gallery. Also, do you mind if I post the photo to my blog? I took 88 photos that afternoon (yesterday) on Broadway and Telegraph, and might publish or post 10 or 12 or 40 of them. On Plastic Alto. Also I think I mentioned I’m running for City Council in Palo Alto — like I said, or for what its worth, I’m a known person and not some Cointelpro officer or whatever. Or are you saying you fear that I will make money and exploit BettiOno Gallery and Kierra Johnson and Ankya Barber? (Her actual name is Anyka but I was shaping it with an ankh). (Which is ironic if she does not have permission to use Yoko’s name or Miles Davis or his ex-wife or widow — she is basically saying that in her space she can bully me or push me around not for shooting her picture but for not looking like her; as compared to talking to me long enough to know what i think about art or media or Oakland or black culture; if anything, I assume black people are talented in art or music, I’m attracted to such) I’m so confused (Jonathan Richman). holler mark weiss ps this also reminds me of the situation regarding Dana Shultz and her painting of Emmett Till’s photo.And of the poet in the Nation just this week who later tweeted that his bad poem was due to “privilege” not trying to trigger you just wonder what you think
and yeah i did write to spike lee once asking what he thought of Huck Finn and (Servant) Jim — but 10 years later rode the elevator down with him at NYU film department and pretended not to notice him
This is from being kicked out of a gallery in Oakland where three people were having a meeting and didn’t like that I snapped their picture and stole their soul.
*Years later, it was published in the local newspaper’s comment board that Lakita while in office or commission had protested including gays as people eligible for affirmitive actions, on religious grounds. So who knows.
it’s let she who is without sin cast the stone, not she with stones handy casts the next stone. Or sorry to bother you.
I just noticed on the Fretboard Journal website that there is a soundsample of a collaborative song between Laurie Lewis and Molly Tuttle called You are My Flower. I don’t know the song but it is on “Will The Circle Be UnBroken” by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and collaborators. This version sounds great to me!
Laurie released a cd of collaborations (Mike Marshall et al) on her own label.
I’ve really only seen her once or twice but admire her. She played with Todd Sickafoose and James Nash who went to Stanford.
(I jump genre a lot but am first of all, a rocker; a conductor named Dave Moschler said he leads an orchestra that reworked Dookie by Green Day)
Here Comes The Rain
From True Stories (Laurie Lewis/Spruce and Maple Music, ASCAP)
VERSE 1 A A I’ve been waiting for so long, I’ve been listening for your song D D I’ve been scanning the skies, searching for clouds on the horizon A And here they come D F#m E And I know you’re going to fall to the thirsty earth again A Here comes the rain
bw
Research and fact-checking this — yes I do that — yields the unfortunate news that two roots musicians had passed: Charles Baty of Little Charlie and the Nite Cats, and Ron Thompson, both 66. Rip in peace. So where this went compared to where it started I would have to say that the grass is not just as green nor the sky just as blue. But hang in there, dear reader, and keep on rockin’ in the free world.
Gentile John Turturro as self-hating dangerous rabbi in timely adaptation of Philip Roth’s cautionary novel
I recommend the book; I should re-read it, too.
Timo is on Nonesuch and was born here in Palo Alto in 1985 but grew up in CT and went to Yale, whereas Johnathan Richman played once in Palo Alto in 1999 or so at Cubberley.
I found this guy by researching history of jazz in palo alto. internet confused him with dick fregulia or something.
A Palo Alto high student organized a concert with Thelonious Monk at Palo Alto High during a time fo racial unrest (soon after murder of Dr. King), cited in Prof. Robin Kelley’s Monk’s biography as a career highlight of the jazz titan. (Update: Andrew Gilbert in The Chron and Nate Chinen on NPR announce that the record — vinyl or cd or stream— drops BOOM! July 19. Update: Monk Palo Alto cd and vinyl made many Best of 2020 lists ) 2. Dick Fregulia at St. Michael’s Alley
the hippest, quickly becoming the new soul of the local bohemian scene. It was dark, woodsy, cozy, and intimate. Just two doors down from the Varsity Theater, it brought to University Avenue a new alternative to the hip scene at Kepler’s bookstore. When it became apparent that all that was lacking was a piano, I helped Vern, the owner, pick out an old upright with a speckled green paint job. which we placed against the wall in the darkest corner. It became a favorite place for jam sessions, usually involving some combination of drums, bass, a guitar, and/or saxophone. April 1, 1959 to June, 1965, epicenter and petri dish to be bop, the beats, proto-hippies — its where Jerry Garcia met Robert Hunter his lyricist, who also washed dishes there; Fregulia, also a former Paly basketball player became an educator in Marin but has remained actively gigging for 60 years and is the de facto historian of the scene. He is also a master interpreter and promoter in a sense of contemporaries like Bill Evans and Tom Harrell; here he (and Akira Tana) play a tribute at Yoshi’s in 1995 to producer Orrin Keepnews:
3. Stanley Jordan
Jordan was a track star at Gunn, went to Princeton to study math, had a gold record for Blue Note and has consistently performed and recorded his unique and diverse music for 40 years. He plays a tapping guitar style and lives in Sedona, AZ.
4. Akira Tana
Former quarterback for a championship Gunn football team, Harvard and NEC student, sideman and leader. Akira also played in a rock band that opened for The Grateful Dead at their famous Be-In at El Camino Park.
5. Tuck and Patti
I saw them once or twice while in high school and didn’t realize that not every town had a Spanish style courtyard with a guitar-vocal duo better than “Lucy and Desi”
6. Danny Scher: promoter, longtime Bill Graham Presents honcho — he built Shoreline Amphitheatre— and brought the aforementioned Monk show here. On Juneteenth, Verve Impulse announced that the Monk live historic recording will drop on July 19, 2020. Besides the Monk show, he also promoted Vince Guaraldi and Duke Ellington. He worked as Bill’s right hand man for 24 years and still presents concerts for 300 in his Kensington Estate, a stones throw from Berkeley.
7. Palo Alto Records Palo Alto Records located here, run by musician and financial-products wizard Jim Benham with help from educator and hipster #1 Herb Wong, put out 80 vinyl releases, including sets by McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones
8. “Palo Alto” by Lee Konitz, although it’s not necessarily about here 9. Gunn High School jazz band 10. Palo Alto Jazz Festival, 1985 11. The New Varsity — see the archive by Randy Lutge 12. Outside at The Inside
13. Palo Alto Jazz Alliance 14. Tom Harrell: his music performed here October 24, 2019 at Palo Alto Arts Center. From Los Altos, son of a Stanford professor, but close enough for Plasty. 15. Jason Olaine
He continued to work with Keepnews occasionally and he recorded 1985’s Just Feelin’ for Palo Alto, a strong quartet session produced by Bay Area jazz champion Herb Wong featuring esteemed San Francisco percussionist Babatunde Lea. But it wasn’t until Jason Olaine scored a booking coup by engineering the pianist’s initial meeting with tenor sax great Michael Brecker at Yoshi’s that Tyner’s Bay Area legacy fully took shape. That 1995 encounter led to the Grammy-winning Impulse! session Infinity, and marked the start of his annual turn-of-the-year Yoshi’s engagement.
Handy example: 16. Palo Alto Jazz Quintet, especially at World Music Day, 2009 – 2015; good band featuring two doctors, a music teacher and my classmate Dan Adams on drums. 17. Rebecca Coupe Franks — trumpeter 18. Connie Crothers — piano 19. Ted Gioia: see Dave Douglas podcast spring 2020 plus his book on subversive music; ran a label here. 20. Josh Thurston Milgrom — bassist; son of Nobel laureate. 21. Josh Roseman kind of sort of 22. Matt Nelson and Ryan Snow — makes me dream of presenting a show with something called The Titan Horns 23. Joe Oliveira — son of the famous painter, sax player; 24. Smth Anderson — an art studio, but supported jazz in several ways; 25. Jenny Scheinman, 4th grade; fiddle player and composer. 26. Full Faith and Credit Band 27. Vince Guaraldi dies in Menlo Park 28. James Booker and Jerry Garcia at Keystone Palo Alto 29. Taylor Ho Bynum at Lytton Plaza; he stopped there on a tour that had the trumpeter biking from SF to LA and further. 30. Monarch Records 31. Windham Hill Records 32. EST at Art 21; piano trio at short-term gallery, they were on the cover of Downbeat but their leader died young in a scuba accident in Sweden; 33. Jack Walrath tribute to Jerry Garcia 34. Dan Adams Bob Adams 35. Stanford Jazz Workshop — James Nadel’s mammoth achievement that started as a summer camp; 36. SF Jazz at Stanford Shopping Center 37. Jana Herzen of Motema Records; I would raise this higher on the list if I re-wrote this, based on having seen Gregory Porter at Frost in summer, 2021; Herzen saw Porter in a restaurant in New York and put out his first two cds. 38. Dave Douglas Engage at The Mitch 2019; 39. supper jazz
40. Charlie Hunter Trio, TJ Kirk at The Cub, 1995
This was a rare co-bill of two leading SF Mission/”acid jazz” groups, both led by 8-string Novak guitarist from Berkeley Charlie Hunter, T.J. Kirk who played a medley mashup of James Brown, Monk and Roland Rahsaan Kirk, and Charlie Hunter Trio, which was on Les Claypool’s Prawn Song records soon to be on Blue Note. There were about 150 Earthwise shows at Cubberley and Charlie told me that I should keep doing it because it was a great listening room — about 20 percent jazz, plus rock, folk, blues. This was the first sell-out, in the 300 capacity theatre.
John Schott, Scott Amendola and Charlie Hunter, July 1995 in San Francisco — Charlie played the Cubberley Sessions five times in the 1990s, by Earthwise, five different lineups
41 Mohini Rustagi went to Gunn and Stanford, is an engineer, belly dancer and world music percussionist but close enough for Plastic Alto
Mohini was raised in Birmingham, AL and moved to Palo Alto, CA in 1998. Both of her parents are musically inclined: her mother, Rashmi, is well-versed in classical Indian music and her father, Pradip, played bluegrass on a violin. She was a member of the California Youth Symphony Percussion Ensemble and the Gunn High School Jazz Ensemble and has since been a part of many jazz programs, including PAJA, SJSC, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop.
Her talent has been shaped by Bay Area legends George Marsh, Tootie Heath, and Howard Wiley. Mohini is currently pursuing a degree in Architectural Design at Stanford University, where she plays for the Stanford Jazz Orchestra. She can be heard in a variety of jazz groups all over the Bay Area. (if she plays or played with Ellen Seeling’s fabled big band, she is definitely qualified for the “Plastic Alto 50”
42. Matt Haimovitz — classic cellist prodigy and now teacher at McGill, grew up in Palo Alto and played for PACO before family moved to New York to further his career; later toured with Rope A Dope Records all star band (Charlie Hunter, Steven Bernstein,DJ Olive) though has never played jazz here. 43 Aleta Hayes Stanford alumna and instructor of drama and dance but sang with William Parker and lived in town. Runs a troupe called the Chocolate Heads. 44 Dave Bendigkeit trumpet player who grew up here and went to Gunn high although split his career between martial arts education and music played with numerous names in numerous sessions I actually have not heard him but Akira Tana said to look into including him on the list and in fact Dave and I traded emails; when the crisis Chris I can check them out together in Brisbane at 7 mile house pretty close to Palo Alto. See also: Titan Horns — Which is mythical at this point even by Plastic alto standards but who knows maybe it will be a big summit at SpangenBurg. While they’re at it why don’t they replace in Salt Lake a horn that actually can be sounded no disrespect intended wasn’t there a big band around here called the blues Saints?
Dave Bendigkeit
45 Chuck Travis
tenor sax played with Tommy Dorsey band during the war years, and worked at Hague’s Music store, where budding musicians could sample the LPs in booth’s before buying. 46. Dave Eshelman trombone player, Cubberley grad, educator arranger (not to be confused with the Stanford Prison Experiment guard). 47 Al Young poet laureate, who had an office about the restaurant at the Nevada Building, University and Bryant, what is now Keen’s Shoes and the headquarters of Laurene Powell Job’s do-good enterprises. Among his jazz writings, popular book on Mingus. im it enjoys today. The book examines Mingus in his creative fits and starts and is unabashed in its celebration of him. There are mixed tenses, anecdotes that wind their way haphazardly into others and disjointed leaps from memory to memory – and so what? While ”Mingus/ Mingus” may have its narrative bumps and sharp curves, it rushes forward with the energy of a stand-up monologue and serves as a faithful mirror of one of modern music’s more difficult personalities. ”Mingus/Mingus” is a breezy but heartfelt tribute to an irascible talent, a collection as passionate and unruly as its subject. Until that definitive Mingus biography comes along, these remembrances – funny, respectful and revealing – will serve nicely; Al Young died in 2021 at 81; 48 Michael Hedges – virtuoso guitarist who had a residency at the Varsity in its heyday; 49 Hershel and Wendy – -Hershel is best known as Chris Isaak’s guitarist – -he’s in Bo Crane’s “Ticket To Rock” which was presented at the Palo Alto Historical Association annual dinner in 2019, whereas I presented a version of this list to PAHA in winter, 2017 — but also a diverse player. He said that at age 19 he would play every night that summer at the ice cream parlor on Ramona, get high with Hedges in the alley behind the Varsity and talk music half the night, clean the church, sleep, repeat. 50 Plastic Alto the blog named for the soccer field /Earthwise Productions
51 Freddie Gambrell
52. Ray Drummond bassist with 10 sessions as a leader and another 80 or so as a sideman (Houston Person, Jack Walrath), received an MBA at Stanford and was part of the jazz scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s according to Fregulia. Also involved with Stanford Jazz Workshop.
53. Hague’s Music and Melody Lane
54. Nairobi Corner
55. Easy Street
56 Percussion Box
57 Bill Evans at The Varsity , Chuck Brown Presents — advertised in the Stanford Daily – also Sam Rivers earlier that week — October 28-29, 1975. Also, Randall Kline the founder of SF Jazz Festival and venue told me that his first show as a presenter was Oregon at The New Varsity late 1970s. Dick Fregulia has a Bill Evans tribute cd.
58. Dayna Stephens
based on Cubberley-grad Neil Howe’s essay on archetypes, “Fourth Turning” for Lions With Wings, a Bandcamp label started during Covid-lockdown, named for a Stanford landmark sometimes called “the Stanford Griffons”. Stephens is usualy associated with Berkeley or Paterson, NJ but he has worked at Stanford Workshop many times and two shows for Earthwise of Palo Alto.
Matt Nelson, tenor sax & Ryan Snow, trombone inducted into the Palo Alto Jazz Pantheon; the Titan Horns, anyone?
I’m Gunn-a fly Matt Nelson and Ryan Snow to Palo Alto to reunite as the Titan Horns, maybe to guest for the student Jazz concert at the local high school. Among other plaudits, Matt was part of the Tune-Yards project; meanwhile, Ryan, the son of a famous ed professor, logged 500 shows with the funk band Sister Sparrow, before mothballing the ax to attend law school, and is now a legal activist in DC.
Numbers 283 and 284 in the search for 500 Palo Alto jazz tropes — artists, labels, venues, and gigs, though maybe the gig thing should be tempered down. Sure, Thelonious Monk playing at Paly is epic, but Josh Roseman sipping coffee at Printers Inc? Maybe cull it down to 50 a mix of players and venues. That’s a good Palo Alto shelter-in-place rain delay kind of project.
Sort of based on the Memphis Horns (Jackson, trumpet and Love, sax) I’d like to see a special event with Matt Nelson, Ryan Snow, Tom Politzer, Jason Olaine and maybe Joe Oliveira — all these dudes once played for the Gunn High School band.
I guess simultaneous to their inclusion in my epic and epileptic Jazz Contrafact story, I hereby nominate Matt Nelson and Ryan Snow to the Palo Alto Rock and Roll Archive. (Jerry Garcia, Maya Ford, Chris Appelgren, Ian MacKaye, Matt Flynn, Tommy Jordan, Grace Wing Slick, Steve Jenkins, Gregg Rolie, Loren Gold, Amy French…)
There’s also something I want to run by Matt called Cherry Colgado Pie, but that’s a long story.
Backed with
A consideration of Todd Sickafoose 2008 “Bye Bye Bees” and a review of this band in the LA Times at Hammer Museum referencing a projection of a tree cycling thru seasons by Jennifer Steinkamp who might have synched with Todd at CalArts, and I had noticed the bees on my neighborhood social distancing dog walk earlier this morning. (Pun on “be” “bees” sure but more about the bigger picture. )
Aaron Mutchler • Aaron Shragge • ABQ • Adam O’Farrill • Afro Brass Assembly • Ahmed Abdullah • Alejandro Berti • Alicia Rau • Allison Philips • Ambrose Akinmusire • Amir El Saffar • Amy Horvey • Andrew Oom • Angeleisha Rodgers • Asphalt Orchestra • Atse Theodros • Avishai Cohen • Baikida Carroll • Baldvin Oddson • Banda de los Muertos • Bart Miltenberger • Ben Holmes • Ben Neill • Ben Syversen • Benje Daneman • Bill Dixon • Billy Buss • Birgit Ulher • Bobby Bradford • Brad Henkel • Brad Mason • Brandon Lewis • Brandon Ridenour • Bria Skonberg • Brian Lynch • Brian McWhorter • Britton Theurer • Brooklyn Brass Quintet • Bruce Harris • Bruce Lee • Carlos Abadie • Carter Yasutake • Casey Tamanaha • Cecil Bridgewater • Chad Mccullough • Charles Tolliver • Chris Bubolz • Chris DiMeglio • CJ Camerieri • Claudio Roditi • Cody Rowlands • Corey Wilkes • Cuong Vu • Curtis Ebey • Dan Blankinship • Danny Gouker • Danny Jonokuchi • Darren Barrett • Dave Ballou • Dave Chisholm • Dave Douglas • David Adewumi • David Buchbinder • David Glukh • David Krauss • David Smith • David Taylor • Dennis Gonzalez • Dolf Kamper • Douglas Detrick • Dr Mark Harvey • Duane Eubanks • Ed Carroll • Eddie Allen • Eddie Henderson • Eli Asher • Emilio Martinez • Eric Biondo • Eric Vloeimans • Ernesto Montoya • Erol Tamerman • Ezana Edwards • Forbes Graham • Frank London • Franz Hautzinger • Gabe Medd • Gareth Flowers • Geoff Chirgwin • Giveton Gelin • Glenn Makos • Gordon Allen • Graham Ashton • Graham Haynes • Greg Bobulinski • Greg Glassman • Greg Kelley • Gregory Rivkin • Herb Robertson • High and Mighty Brass Band • Hugh Ragin • Hugo Moreno • Igmar Thomas • Ingrid Jensen • Itaru Oki • Jack Walrath • Jackie Coleman • Jacob Varmus • Jacob Wick • Jaime Branch • James Zollar • Jared LaCasce • Jason Palmer • Jason Price • Jean Caze • Jean Luc Capozzo • Jean-Jacques Avenel • Jeff Beal • Jeff Kaiser • Jeremy Pelt • Jesse Neuman • Jesse Selengut • Joe Drew • Joe McPhee • Joe Moffett • John Betsch • John Blevins • John Carlson • John Lake • John McDonough • John McNeil • John Raymond • Jon Crowley • Jon Malko • Jon Nelson • Jon Owens • Jonathan Finlayson • Jonathan Powell • Jonathan Saraga • Jordan McLean • Josh Berman • Josh Deutsch • Josh Evans • Josh Frank • Josh Lawrence • JP Carter • Kate Amrine • Kelly Oram • Kelly Rossum • Kenneth DeCarlo • Kenny Rampton • Kenny Warren • Kenny Wheeler • Kenyatta Beasley • Kevin Cobb • Keyon Harrold • Kirk Knuffke • Kris Tiner • Laura Kahle • Lauren Strobel • Laurie Frink • Leo Hardman-Hill • Leon Jordan JR • Leonel Kaplan • Leron Thomas • Lew Soloff • Lewis Flip Barnes • Lina Allemano • Linda Briceño • Lynn Chao • Mac Gollehon • Marcus Belgrave • Marcus Printup • Mark Gould • Mark Isham • Marquis Hill • Matt Holman • Matt Lavelle • Matt Mead • Matt Postle • Matt Shulman • Maurice Brown • Meridian Arts BQ • Micah Killion • Michael Gurfield • Michael Rodriguez • Mike Irwin • Miki Hirose • Nabate Isles • Nadje Noordhuis • Nate Wooley • Nathan Botts • Nathaniel Center • Natsuki Tamura • Nick Roseboro • Nicole Davis • Nicole Rampersaud • Nils Ostendorf • NO BS Brass • Oskar Stenmark • Pam Fleming • Paolo Fresu • Pasquale Cangiano Pasquale • Paul Smoker • Paul Williamson • Peck Allmond • Peter Evans • Peter Kuan • Phil Slater • Phillip Dizack • Practical Trumpet Society • Rachel Therrien • Ralph Alessi • Randy Brecker • Randy Sandke • Raphe Malik • Ray Vega • Rex Richardson • Rhys Tivey • Rich Johnson • Riley Mulherkar • RJ Avallone • Rob Henke • Rob Mazurek • Rod McGaha • Ron Horton • Ron Miles • Roy Campbell Jr • Russ Johnson • Ryan DeWeese • Ryan Messina • Sam Hoyt • Sam Jones • Sam Nester • Sam Neufeld • Sarah Ferholt • Sarah Wilson • Scott McIntosh • Scott Tinkler • Sean Jones • Shane Endsley • Slavic Soul Party • Stephanie Richards • Stephen Haynes • Steve Fishwick • Steven Bernstein • Susan Watts • Sycil Mathai • Tanya Kalmanovitch • Tayla Nebesky • Taylor Haskins • Taylor Ho Bynum • Ted Daniel • Terrell Stafford • Theljon Allen • Theo Croker • Thomas Bergeron • Thomas Heberer • TILT Brass • Tim Byrnes • Tim Hagans • Tim Leopold • Tom Harrell • Tomasz Stanko • Tony Glausi • Tony Kadleck • Victor Haskins • Vitaly Golovnev • Wadada Leo Smith • Waldron Ricks • Warren Smith • Wayne du Maine • Wayne Dumaine • West Point Jazz Knights • William Owens • Wilmer Wise • Wing Walker Orchestra • Zubin Hensler
I didn’t bother to count this, I just cut and pastied from another page on the internet. The bold ones I’ve worked with. I changed the font.
Here’s a minute of Kirk Knufke cornet with Ben Goldberg clarinet, student Michael Gilbert on bass and leader Allison Miller on drums working thru Monk’s “Bemsha Swing” at Mitchell Park Community Center in Palo Alto in October, 2018 about 18 months ago, the first of 18 shows at The Mitch, by various groups, not all featuring horns.
(Douglas played there in November, 2019; Walrath played at an art gallery downtown around 2004; Bernstein did a cd release show at Bottom of the Hill in SF in 2008…Taylor Ho Bynum, who I thought was the founder of Festival of New Trumpet, did a little thing with Ben at Lytton Plaza as part of his bike and blow series, or adjunct to such; I spoke to Taylor Ho Bynum in that his students at Dartmouth were booked to be on a bill here March, which was cancelled.
Tom Harrell Quartet was booked into the Earthwise 2019 series, at Palo Alto Art Center and his trio played his music without their leader, who was back at the hotel recuperating from a mishap the previous day. The bassist said “Tom is here in spirit, we are playing his music”:
Two of these people I knew from the Steve Lacy trio but never knew they played trumpet — will have to look into it. JJ and Betsch.
and 1: not on this list but March 13, 2020 at Akira Tana’s Otonowa (partially to raise awareness about and help rebuild and normalize Tohoku Japan after “311”) we flew in a trumpet player named Takahiro Dai:
I thought I saw Bob Dylan, at Frost, sitting in a chair. Me, I mean. Mark me. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3NbQkyvbw18
I was trying to post a 30 second clip from Bob Dylan show at Stanford West October but my computer is not cooperating
I think this Bob Dylan “Murder Most Foul” message is really important.
Murder most foul, here’s the mouth that spit such, in the Kenneth Braggah version:
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 